On Wings Of War
by TheDarkSideOfBlonde
Summary: War has come to Tenrou Forest. Elite warriors have been drafted in and the princess has to travel to another kingdom to seek help. what will become of these peaceful fairies. (Art credit to Gaston18)
1. Chapter 1

**And here it is! This is my newest fic and I'm super excited about it! I'm not going to chatter here much but I will say there will be a glossary at the bottom of the page because I have used a few items of mythology and I will explain them there.**

 **Enjoy XD**

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Levy yawned and stretched, her arms reached up, her wings fluttered slightly and her tail curled tightly into the small of her back. It was early but she needed to go to an early meeting with the Queen and her fellow Royal Court Advisors (RCA's). She scooped up her bag and slung it over her shoulder before heading out of her door. Her home with in an old oak tree a short distance from the Queen's tree, the Tenrou Tree so the flight to the meeting wouldn't take her long. She passed by the door of her best friend and fellow RCA Lucy Heartfilia, the lights were out and all the windows closed so levy knew she must have left already. She flew off as past as she could and it didn't take her long to arrive at the throne room of the Tenrou tree.

In the throne room everyone was already present, along with several faces Levy did not recognise. Queen Mavis was sat on her throne with her two personal bodyguards, Mirajane and Minerva stood either side of her. Makarov, the commander of the royal army was present along with three army captains, Gildarts, Bisca and Elfman. Lucy waved in greeting to Levy and walked over with one eyebrow raised in a questioning look, glancing briefly to a group of fairies stood off from the main group. They were different from other fairies, to start with they each had thick horns atop their heads, except for the girl, a young fairy whose horns were presumably underdeveloped. In addition to that their tails where thick and scaled, almost reptilian. Their wings matched, thick and scaled with an obviously large wing span, including a sharp looking talon on the tip of each fold, a drastic comparison to the frail, thin wings of the other present fairies. "What's going on Lu-chan?" Levy asked in a hushed tone once her friend was close enough.

"I don't know." Lucy shrugged her shoulders "They've been here since before any of us. Makarov thinks that Lady Mavis brought them in."

"This is all so strange…" Levy frowned slightly, "This emergency meeting, these strangers… I mean one of them looks like she's twelve."

"I can see your brain working Levy-chan." Lucy smiled "What are you thinking?"

"I'm not sure… I feel like there's something I know about that group, but I don't remember the specifics." She sighed.

"Levy." Lucy and levy both fell silent when the Queen spoke, her gentle voice traveling across the room to where the two friends were talking.

"Yes M'Lady." Levy stepped forward a few steps so she was directly in front of Mavis.

"Good Morning." Mavis gave the strategist a smile and a small nod.

"Good Morning Lady Mavis." Levy smiled.

"Levy, I'd like you to meet Gajeel…" Mavis waved her hand and Levy turned to watch a large male with messy black hair peel off from the group of strangers and come stand behind her. "He will be your shadow from today onwards."

"I'm… I'm not sure I understand Lady Mavis…"

"I will explain very soon." Mavis turned her attention to Lucy now. "Lucy."

"Yes Lady Mavis."

"A Good Morning to you."

"Good Morning." Lucy nodded.

"Lucy. This man is Natsu." Another man peeled off from the outsider group and walked to stand beside Lucy. "He will be your shadow."

"I…" Lucy looked shocked.

Before Lucy could form the words she was looking for Mavis was turning to the remaining people in the room. "Makarov, Gildarts, Elfman, Bisca… I trust you can protect yourselves well enough… but I would, in these precarious times, suggest you each find personal protection, and avoid being alone."

"Lady Mavis." Levy spoke up. "Might I ask what precarious times you speak of… You haven't spoken to me of such situations."

"Levy…" Mavis sighed. "Everyone. This is why I called this meeting, and why I called in the Dragonflies. I got word from Captain Grey on the western boarder."

"Captain Grey? What's happened?" Levy was alert in a split second, her mind whirring.

"The Deevs from the western plains are making moves of war against us. Captain Grey and his squad were attacked… his squad is dead and he is current incapacitated. He was recused and being cared for by a Nix just inside our boarder. He informs me he will travel back when he can, but his Nix has told him she has seen several small squads entering our territory. We… I'm sorry to say… are at war ladies and gentleman."

"Oh god…" Levy breathed out.

"My Lady, should me not send a squad to collect Captain Grey." Commander Makarov asked, stepping forward.

"Captain Grey said in his letter that he doesn't need a recuse squad. He feared people would would get hurt, and his Nix knows a secret shortcut that will keep him out of the way of any Deevs, He will return on his own strength." Mavis lowered her head "I wish I could send a squad… But I'm sworn to listen to Captain Grey's own desires."

"I-… Of course M'Lady." Makarov stepped back but it was clear by the frown on his face that it hurt him to do so.

"M'Lady if I may." Levy stepped forward.

"Of course you may."

"If we are at war we must all make preparations, especially myself as your strategist, I'd like to meet with Commander Makarov, all available Captains and Lucy as our liaison with the Celestial Spirits at noon today to discuss a defence, if it suits you I'll report back to you at sundown."

Mavis nodded her head. "This is agreeable with me, I trust you all to protect the people of my kingdom."

"We have permission to consider the dragonflies a member of the army?"

"You do, except the two I have personally assigned to shadow yourself and Lucy." Mavis nodded her head.

"Then I would also request that their leader… or one representative of theirs to attend the meeting at noon so I might learn each members strengths and weaknesses."

"With you and Lucy in the meeting Gajeel and Natsu would have to be nearby, so I suggest they attend the meeting as representatives."

"That is agreeable." Levy nodded.

"Perfect. In that case I dismiss you all to prepare for this meeting." Mavis got to her feet and everyone stepped aside as she left the room.

Once the queen had left the room Levy turned to Lucy. "Lu-chan… Could you help me collect some things from the archives?"

"Of course Levy-chan." Lucy nodded. "We can head down there now and we should be able to get it all in time for the meeting."

"Ok, let's go." Levy turned for the door with Lucy at her side and tried to ignore the hairs on the back of her next prickling as the two dragonflies followed them out.

Once they had descended several levels down into the roots of the great Tenrou tree in silence they reached the archive. They together pushed open the old heavy doors and entered the massive labyrinth of files, maps and books.

"We're going to need maps of the entire kingdom, recent ones and also ones from the past. Also maps of our boarder with the western plains from the same dates. I'm going to dig out the history files from our last issue with the Deevs and see what we can learn from the past."

"Right!" Lucy nodded "I'll get the maps."

With nods to each other the two split off and wonder off down separate corridors of shelves. After a while of gathering up various books and putting them in her bag Levy stopped and spun around to where her shadow was leaning against a shelf. "Do you speak?" She asked.

The dark haired man quirked an eyebrow at you and slowly a smirk curled at his lips. "No… No I do not."

Levy quirked an eyebrow in response. "Oh I see…" She closed the bag that was now nearly over flowing with books. "Then make yourself useful ok?" She pushed the bag into his arms and picked up the ones that hadn't fit. "Let's go shadow." She smiled at her own joke as she head back to meet up with Lucy at the doors.

Levy was amused to see that Lucy too had coerced her shadow into carrying a majority of the maps she had collected but she was surprised to see that her shadow… Natsu… was smiling and even talking to her openly. "Lu-chan we're back." Levy called.

"Ah." Lucy turned and then giggled slightly "I see we don't have to make two trips."

"Nope." Levy shook her head. "Let's go, we've got a lot to do."

Levy rolled two maps out on top of the table in the meeting room. The Commander, five army Captains, two dragonflies and Lucy were all sat around the table as Levy stood to explain the initial plan. "This is the boarder we have with the Deevs of the southern plains. Protecting the boarder at this stage would be pointless as we already know that some small squads are already inside. I suggest instead that was said various squads to each board village…" She pointed to five villages on the map. "They would have to be squads of reasonable size and power as we already know Captain Grey's small squad's fate … Freed, Kagura, You've been informed of Captain Grey's fate?" She turned to the two captains who had not been in the original meeting but had been made available for the strategy meeting.

"We have." Kagura nodded, buy Levy didn't miss how the captain's grip tightened on her sword handle.

"Good. With five villages and a total of seven captains when counting Grey I can assume that you can all organise the squads amongst yourselves, under Commander Makarov's supervision yes?" Levy looked about and was met with nods of agreement and approval. "Then I'll move on. It is my plan to ask Lady Mavis her opinion on this matter later but I will put it forward here first. I'd like to suggest that Lady Erza travel to the Eastern Mountains to seek assistance from the Orends. This kingdom has been known to do it before and they have been good friends to us."

"Will it be safe for Lady Erza?" Makarov spoke up. "We can't be sending out one of our kingdoms royalty with Deevs running around!"

"I do not think the Orends will take us very seriously if we send anyone of a lesser rank." Levy admitted "Lady Erza is of course an extremely competent warrior but she will be accompanied by her personal guards, Simon and Milanna, and perhaps a dragonfly."

There was a silence at the table as everyone glanced at Natsu and Gajeel. There was a long pause before Natsu seemed to register that everyone was looking at him (even Makarov seemed to have taken to avoiding looking at Gajeel who had taken to glaring at anyone who looked at him so everyone looked at the more easy going dragonfly) "Oh! Is that my cue?"

Lucy chuckled and Levy smiled "Yes, if you wouldn't mind Natsu."

"Right right… Well Sting and Rouge work best together so you should keep them together for the best results. Wendy isn't much of a fighter, she's a healer, but she can hold her own. Cobra and Luxas are both good on their own, neither are very good with any kind of team work. Personally I think Cobra would be the best choice, since he has Kinana and together they're the best at sensing oncoming danger."

Levy nodded "Kinana is not a dragonfly?"

"Kinana is a flying snake." Natsu confirmed.

"I see… We'll if it is agreeable with Cobra he can accompany Erza, Simon and Milanna." Levy decided. "Is everyone agreed?"

There was a wave of nods and mumbles of agreement "And what should the remaining members of the army do in the meantime. With squads in each village on the border, what should the remaining soldiers do?"

"I would suggest we increase patrols and guards on the Tenrou tree and also around the capital as a whole." Levy suggested "Meanwhile Lu-chan… You will be speaking with the celestial spirits?"

"I will be." Lucy nodded "They're… not ones for war in the most part but I will get what support I can from them."

"Good. Anything else that needs to be addressed today?"

"Not today… We we'll meet again in a few days once we've each got our own charges in order?" Makarov asked.

"Yes we will." Levy nodded "If everyone is happy, we can finish for the afternoon."

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 **Ok so Mythology wise we have:**

 **Deevs - Evil version of the Persian fairy 'Peri'**

 **Nix (or Nixie) - Water-spirit said to be very beautiful (You can all probably guess who our Nix is~)**

 **Orends - Mountain Nymphs**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's chapter 2! I will be trying to get chapters out as often as possible but I know I won't have much time to write the next few days since my family is visiting. I hope this chapter can tide you over until then.**

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It was dark by the time Levy was finally heading home. Her meeting with Queen Mavis had taken much longer than she had anticipated. Queen Mavis had been fine with all the plans made by her tactician but she had argued against the plan to send her daughter to the eastern mountains. Levy had tried in earnest to convince the royal for nearly a half hour before the princess herself walked into the room and argued with her mother. She had apparently just arrived back from training with friends she had in the army and had overheard whispers of war from a few soldiers and hurried home. Having overheard Levy's as she walked into the throne room she helped the tactician to convince her mother. Erza was determined, she wanted to do everything she could to protect her subjects, as was her job as the future Titaina of Tenrou Forest. With Erza's support Levy argued that sending Erza east was the safest place for her in comparison to letting her fight on the frontlines. Eventually, after hearing what protection would accompany her daughter Mavis agreed and Levy was finally dismissed in order to rest up for the next day.

Levy flew back to her home on heavy wings, so tired now she had completely forgotten her shadow following her home. She entered her home and turned on the light lacrima. She went to her room and changed into a simple nightdress and washed her face. She was about to climb into bed when she suddenly remembered her shadow. She looked about her bedroom and then peeked out into the front room to find them both empty. She walked into the front room and looked out of the window, wondering if maybe her shadow had gone home for the night. To her surprise she in fact saw Gajeel sat on a tree branch opposite her window, watching.

"Erm…" Levy called out, unsure what to say at first. "Excuse me… Erm… Gajeel right? You don't have to sit out there all night."

"Yes I do." Came the short, gruff response.

"No I mean… You can come inside." She nodded back into her home.

"I'm fine."

Levy huffed "That tree is not going to be very comfortable to sleep in you know. My couch would be better…even if a little small."

"Doesn't matter, I'm not sleeping."

Levy's eyes widened. "What! You have to sleep."

"No I don't. The Queen said watch and protect the short blue tactician, and here I am."

Levy huffed and stepped away from the window before stomping into her bedroom. Gajeel smirked to himself, thinking he had won his first little interaction with the tiny fairy. However, to his immense surprise Levy came back out of her room wearing a jacket and exited her home completely, flying over to him. "You need to sleep." She stopped right in front of him, hands on her hips.

He raised one studded eyebrow at her, she was currently eye to eye with him and seemed completely unintimidated by him. "I said no shorty."

He smirked as she visibly bristled at the comment. The after a second of glaring she grabbed his wrist in both hands and starting pulling. He nearly fell on the branch at the sudden tug but soon regained his balance and Levy found herself trying to pull on a brick wall. She glared "You'll be a pretty useless bodyguard if you're too tired to react quickly."

"I'll be fine." He grumbled, refusing to accept she was right.

"You'll also be able to get to me quicker, if I'm in danger, if you're already inside." She pointed out trying to reason with the dragonfly.

He sighed "Fine! Ok fine!" He threw his hands up in defeat. Unfortunately Levy was still gripping his wrists so she got pulled up in the sudden movement, much to Gajeel's amusement. "Nice grip shrimp."

"I'm not a shrimp! I'm a fairy… we're supposed to be small."

"Not this small." He chuckled, stretching his wings and lifting off the branch. Levy let him go and started flying back to her home. "There's a blanket on the couch… shut the door behind you."

Gajeel chuckled slightly to himself before following the interesting fairy into her home.

"Good morning Levy." Lucy smiled as Levy stepped into their shared office, the room they would work every day, but today was different, now they were at war.

"Good morning Lu-chan." Levy smiled back as she dropped her bag on her desk. "Our office his awfully crowed today huh."

"Mmm I noticed that." Lucy nodded with a small giggle.

Levy sat down in her chair and turned her attention to the crowd in her office. "Can we help you?" She asked. Besides from their shadows stood behind them in their little office the remaining five Dragonflies where crammed into the small space.

"We're here to get our orders mam." A dragonfly with black hair as well as black horns, wings and tail spoke up.

Levy chuckled "Firstly call me Levy not mam and secondly I'm not the commander here, just the tactician."

"The commander told us to come here." A blond with white wings and tail spoke up with a roll of his eyes, which in turned earned him a jab in the gut from the dragonfly that first spoke.

"Excuse me…" Levy turned to the girl "The commander said… You would tell us where we would be working, and then we could take orders from whoever was in charge there."

"Oh I see." Levy nodded "That's fine. Natsu let me know what you're all good at yesterday. So, Cobra…" She waited until the purpled winged man nodded his head before continuing "I'd like for you to accompany out princess and her guard to the east, I've heard you and your companion are good at sensing danger."

"Kinana and I would be honoured." He nodded

"I'll take you to meet her later." Levy nodded back "Sting and Rouge." Levy was already looking at the two males that had originally spoken and she was proven to have guessed right when they both straightened up. "I'd like for you to work under commander Makarov, but tell him I'd like for you to stay in the capital for now." The nodded.

"Good… Now, Luxas." She looked to the tallest, grumpiest looking dragonfly, with bright yellow wings. He barely raised his eyes. "I've heard you're a loner but I'd like you to report to Captain Freed… His squad is small but powerful and effective, you should fit in well there."

Luxas did little more than grunt in response so Levy tured her attention to Wendy. "Wendy, I've heard you're a healer?"

"Yes Ma- I mean Levy." She lowered her head shyly "I'm not the best fighter."

"Aww come on Wendy you're a dragonfly just like the rest of us!" Natsu spoke from behind Lucy in encouragement.

"Thank you Natsu… but still I'm better at healing… a-and support spells."

Levy nodded "It's ok, I'd like for you to help my friend Lisanna for a while. She's our head medic. She'll need help collecting and organising the medical supplies in preparation for the war."

Wendy's eyes brightened up "I-I can do that!"

Levy smiled "That's great." She stood up and stretched "Sting and Rouge I'll assume you can find your way back to Makarov?" She got nods in reply "In that case you can go now, I'll take the rest of you to your posts. Lucy, you can hold down the fort?"

"Sure." Lucy smiled "Just be back by lunch~"

"I promise Lu." Levy chuckled as she headed out the door with four dragonflies in tow.

First they went to the medical wing to find Lisanna, levy knew she was away from the hospital that day in order to organise the royal medical stores. "Lisanna?" Levy called as she entered the room. Lisanna's grey head soon popped up from behind some boxes.

"Good morning Levy!" She smiled skipping out from behind the boxes to greet the other, only to stop dead in her tracks as she noticed all the dragonflies. "Erm…?"

Levy chuckled "Don't worry I'm only going to ask you to watch over one of them. This is Wendy." Levy ushered Wendy forward "She's a healer."

"A healer? Great I can use all the help I can get." Lisanna smiled "Hey Wendy, I'm Lisanna." Lisanna put her hand out and Wendy shook it tentatively.

"Nice to meet you Mam." Wendy smiled shyly.

"Oh, just call me Lisanna, I'm not commander or captain." She chuckled "Come on I'll show you around." Lisanna waved at the mess of boxes behind her. "I made a bit of a mess but you'll have it all down in no time."

Levy smiled "I've gotta go Lisanna, I'll see you later ok?"

"See ya Levy~" Lisanna waved.

Next they went down to the training grounds outside. It was the best place to find both Erza and Freed's squad at this time of day. She spotted Freed first and waved the green haired male over. "Freed."

"Good morning Levy." He bowed which made Levy chuckled as it always did. "How are you?"

"I'm good thanks." She smiled "and yourself?"

"Well." He nodded "How is your translating going?"

"Oh, it was going great, I've had to put it on pause for now though." She sighed."

"Of course." Freed nodded "What can I do for you today?"

"Actually I was hoping you'd take a Dragonfly into your team." She waved back at the three men behind her.

"…One seems to be glaring at me…" Was his response.

Levy turned around to find Gajeel glaring at Freed. "Gajeel." She said his name to get his attention and his expression softened slightly as he looked at her. "Quit glaring at Freed." She rolled her eyes and looked back to her friend. "Don't mind him, my bodyguard is just… moody. But no… I'd like you to take Luxas." She pointed to the yellow dragonfly.

"I see…No problem." Freed nodded.

"Great, Luxas." She waved the reluctant dragonfly forward. "This is Freed, you'll work with him and his squad of two others."

"That's a tiny squad." He grumbled.

"It's an effective squad." Freed replied, as you we'll find out. Come on." Freed turned around and Levy watched as Luxas reluctantly followed.

"Good… Now we just need to find Erza… She's normally sword fighting at this time of day."

"Swords… four hundred meters north." Cobra said softly as he turned his head. Levy followed his gaze and spotted the flash of red she was looking for.

"Wow… You really are perfect for this job Cobra." She smiled at him before heading over to where Erza was going sword to sword with her friend and guard Simon. She stood and waited for the two to stop clashing swords, it was always nice to watch Erza fight; she was elegant and swift with her motions, a beautiful but truly formidable foe on the battle field. Simon eventually held up a hand in surrender and Erza sheathed her sword with a chuckle.

"Sorry Erza… I surrender."

"It's perfectly alright." She nodded "Few could last as long as you friend."

"Levy!" Levy had been so busy watching the fight she had noticed Milanna sneaking up on her until the girl was shouting her name and leaping onto her back. Levy squeaked and was about to greet the excitable girl when suddenly the weight was yanked from her back with some force and as she spun around to see what was going on all she could see was black.

A heavy silence fell over the courtyard as everyone took in the scene. Milanna was on her ass in the dust with a look of dazed shock on her face. Gajeel was half crouched in front of Levy, his metallic looking wings spread wide, Erza had her sworn drawn once again, pointing it at him. Levy gaped in surprise before she quickly flew up and over Gajeel, landing lightly in front of her. "Relax Gajeel…" She said softly before turning to Erza. "Lady Erza please lower your weapon."

"He attacked Milanna!" Erza frowned

"She attacked Shrimp first." Gajeel growled, thought Levy noted he had at least stood up properly now.

"He's a bodyguard assigned to me by your mother, you remember he was there last night?" Levy explained with her hand raised in a calming manner. "He didn't realise Milanna is my friend, he'll apologise."

Erza sighed and sheathed her sword again. Simon, sensing the tension was dispersed hurried over to Milanna and helped her to her feet.

"Gajeel…" Levy turned to the other and nodded her head towards Milanna with a look on her face that told him he'd better do what she says.

"Sorry Catgirl…" He nodded at Milanna.

"You're forgiven Dragonman!" Milanna giggled tugging at her cat ears happy with the nickname that had probably been meant sarcastically.

"With that out of the way… Did you need something Levy?" Erza asked.

"Yes. I came to introduce Cobra." She waved her hand at the purple winged dragonfly who had stayed silence throughout the earlier exchange. "He's the dragonfly that will travel with you three to the east."

"The one that sense's danger?" Simon asked.

"He has very good hearing." Levy nodded

"Nice to meet you Cobra." Erza nodded to the man. "We'll you join us for some training."

"If you wish… I am under your charge now."

"Good… I've always wanted to fight with a Dragonfly."

"Levy~" Milanna inched over before eyeing Gajeel and asking him a question "Permission to hug Levy Dragonman?"

"Hn." He nodded his head.

"Yay!" Milanna giggled and leapt at Levy who hugged her back. "Levy, are you and Lucy going to join us for lunch?"

"Sure." She nodded.

"Great. Erza! Lucy and Levy are coming to lunch!" And with that the overexcited girl was skipping over to Erza.

Levy chuckled to herself before rising her hand and waving "I'll see you guys at lunch. I've got some work to do."

"Byeeeeee~" Milanna waved wildly while Simon and Erza both merely waved.

Levy left the training field with a small smile still on her face. As they entered the much quieter inner tree Levy whispered something she knew only her Dragonfly friend would hear. "Thanks, for protecting me." Behind her Gajeel said nothing but a small smirk curved his mouth.

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 **As always I havn't been able to proofread my work so sorry for the bad spelling and grammar~**

 **Please comment and review as it goes miles towards motivating me.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Phew, finally a day to myself. My week was filled with work and then on my day off I went to a cosplay meet (Which was damn fun don't get me wrong but I'm sooooo tired) Anyway heres chapter 3 (Unbetaed as always I'm sorry)**

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Two days. It had been only two days. Two days since all the squads had been dispatched to the boarders and two days since Erza and her small squad had left for the Eastern Mountains. Two days and already the war was starting to show. Two boarder squads (Kagura and Elfman's) had been engaged en-route to their posts and Bisca's squad had arrived to find Deevs pillaging and flew straight into the fight. Freed and Gildart's teams both arrived and reported no incidents for which Levy was thankful. She'd dispatched two three-man medical teams to Kagura and Bisca's locations but thankfully Elfman's team were uninjured. Levy hadn't heard from Erza, but that was to be expected since the journey to the eastern Mountains was three days travel at least. She would send word from the boarder before she continues her journey to the Eastern Mountain's capital to speak with their ruler.

Levy was stressed, she spent each and every waking hour in her newly appoint strategy room surrounded by books and maps, not to mention the massive table map with little statuettes showing where all their forces where currently presiding. Gajeel had become a sort of silent comfort for her, she always knew he was right behind her ready for anything. He rarely spoke unless she spoke directly to him but he made himself useful, collecting files and books so long as they were in the same room as she, refusing to let her leave his sight. Lucy or Lisanna would bring her lunch each day and usually one of them would be the one to show up after dark and force her to go home and get some rest.

On the third day another medical team was dispatched to Elfman's location after a message arrived informing Levy of an attack on their village. Late in the afternoon of that day a message was also received from Erza she had gotten to the boarder and was being escorted to the royal capital by a couple of border guards. Levy was grateful that at least Erza's mission was going smoothly and without any problems.

"Oi Shrimp." Levy startled, she had been beginning to doze off over her books when Gajeel spoke.

"Erm… yes?"

"You were falling asleep there." He commented

"I was just thinking." She replied, not looking over her shoulder at him.

"Sure…" She could almost hear him rolling his eyes.

"I've still got work to do." She sighed

"You're not going to be any good to anyone if you don't sleep shrimp." He said stepping forward so he was stood right next to her.

She frowned at his use of her own words. "Hey! That's my line." She looked up at him with a mock scowl.

"Yeah I know. Follow your own advice yeah?"

Levy grumbled "Fine… Let's go back." She closed the book she was reading and stood up, she stretched and yawned. Her yawn ended in a squeak as Gajeel scooped her up in his arms and started walking out of the room. "What are you doing!?"

"Taking you back to your place." He said as if it was the most normal thing in the world to pick her up and start walking down the corridors with her.

"Yes but I can walk for myself you know." She tried to frown at him but instead a yawn forced itself past her lips.

"Yeah, but you're sleepy and you fly really slowly when you're sleepy." He smirked at her as her sleepy state had her unconsciously resting her head against his chest, her eyes drooping.

"We can't all have massive wings like you." She commented "Even my fast flying probably seems slow to you."

"Yeah, cos yer a shrimp, yer flying and walking is slow with those little legs and tiny wings." He chuckled.

"You're so rude…" She mumbled before she completely fell asleep in the dragonfly's arms.

The next morning Levy sat up in bed and looked around in a confused manner. Last thing she remembered she was in the Tenrou tree still, Gajeel had made her leave and get some rest and then…. Oh. She had fallen asleep on him. How embarrassing she thought, burying her face in her hands. After a minute she shook herself and forced herself out of bed, she needed to focus on her work not worry about how embarrassing falling asleep in the arms of her guard is. She was still wearing yesterday's outfit so she quickly showered and changed into clean clothes before heading out into the living room. Gajeel was sat on her couch, eyes closed and arms crossed over his chest. She smiled, he slept in such a funny way. "Morning Gajeel." She said softly.

"Hmm." He peeked open one red eye towards her. "Morning."

"You want some breakfast?" She asked.

"Iron?" He asked.

"Uhuh." She nodded heading over to her little kitchen, she pulled out a sack from under one of her cabinets. She had gotten it from the capital scrap heap once she had discovered that her dragonfly ate only metal. She put a selection of bolts, nails and scraps in a bowl while her toast cooked then she brought both their meals out to the front room. She handed Gajeel the bowl and sat down to eat hers.

"Thanks shrimp." He grinned once he'd finished, much before her.

"You're welcome." She nodded before biting into her toast again. Once she was done Gajeel took her plate from her and took them both to the kitchen, on his way back out he grabbed her bag. Levy was rather surprised by this show of friendliness. "Thanks." She smiled had him as she took her bag and slung it over her shoulder.

"No problem Shrimp… lets go." He pushed her lightly towards the door and she just chuckled before flying out the door.

"Who are you?" Erza was alone in the throne room of the Eastern Mountain's palace. The palace was a massive elegant building carved into the side of the mountain. The king was a slim man with dark hair, he also wore robes of pure black, the only guard he seemed to have was a slim male with a tattoo over one eye.

"Erza Scarlet Vermillion… Princess of Tenrou forest."

"Ah, Lady Vermillion, it's an honour you and your guards come to visit us… but with no warning?"

"Unfortunately it is not a pleasure visit sir." Erza replied.

"Oh?"

"Deevs had declared war on our forests M'Lord." Erza lowered her head "I've come to humbly request your assistance."

"I see…" The king looked to the man beside him and then back to Erza who's head was still bowed. "Raise your head Lady Vermillion."

Erza looked up and saw that the younger male was now stood in front of the king with a drawn sword. She sensed Cobra moving forward to get between her and the guard but her frew her own sword and used it to block his way. "No." She told him, before glancing back to the king. "If I am correct his majesty wants me to fight his champion in order to prove my people are worth fighting beside."

"You're a smart girl."

"Then I agree." Erza nodded her head. "You three get back." Erza put her sword away and pulled back her hair into a high ponytail. She drew her sword once more and took a few steps back, bringing the fight away from the throne. The guard pounced the minute she pointed her sword at him to signify she was ready.

She bounced back, his sword sliding past her face with only a few centimetres to spare. He was the fastest swordsman she had fought in a long while but she couldn't become distracted by that in the midst of a fight. She spun before he could bring his sword back and aimed to slice through his side but he was already on the move again. He flew up and then came plummeting down at her with his sword aimed at her head. Erza dropped and rolled, coming up on one knee just in time to hold her sword up and block his downward swing. "Heh... Not bad." She told him with a smirk.

"Not bad yourself Scarlet." The man smirked back.

"I'd like to savour our fight but unfortunately at this time I'm in quite the rush." With these words she shoved her sword up against his and then while he was slightly unbalanced she swung her foot under his legs, knocking him flat on his back. She was on her feet in a flash her sword levelled at his neck.

"Well well Jellal… It's been a while since someone bested you." The king laughed heartily from his throne. "And so quickly too."

"She's a good swordswoman." Jellal nodded and sat up once Erza had returned her sword to its sheath.

"You're fast… Jellal…" Erza frowned slightly "I'm sure I know that name."

"I should think so." The king nodded "You two played together as children."

Erza and Jellal stared at each other for a moment "As children…" Erza tilted her head "That must have been nearly… ninety years ago."

"Right. There was a time a long time ago that Mavis and I were friends, and Jellal as my adopted son grew up having play dates with Mavis's daughter." The king stood.

"My mother has never mentioned an existing friendship with this land, nor has our tactician." Erza frowned.

"Mavis… No longer speaks with me." The king sighed. "I lost her faith a long time ago."

"I see…" Erza lowered her eyes "That may explain mothers reluctance to ask for your assistance."

"Perhaps. However we will stand beside you in this war. Even putting personally feelings aside should Tenrou Forest fall we would be the next land in the Deevs sight." The king nodded

"Thank you M'lord." Erza bowed.

"Nonesense… There is another group you could call as allies, they live in Tenrou forest but mostly in secret…"

"If you mean the Dragonflies M'Lord we've already got them on side. From the day this war started." She turned her head back to her three companions "Cobra is a Dragonfly."

"I see…." The king nodded "Anyway, You and your charges will stay for a day or two while I gather my forces?"

"If it's acceptable M'lord."

"Of course it is." He nodded "Jellal will show you to your rooms."

Jellal snapped out of whatever thoughts had kept him quiet up to that point and he nodded quickly "Right, Of course… this way."

"Erza will be returning to our land with the eastern army in two days time." Mavis told her tactician who smiled brightly at the good news.

"That's great, the eastern forces will be a great relief to the defensive forces, the size of the reported attack squads on the boarder are getting larger and I'm concerned about those few squads captain grey mentioned having already crossed over, none of the inner villages have reported anything. I've got a few small investigation squads looking for them but there's been no word yet."

"I understand," Mavis nodded "you can only do so much Levy, you're only one fairy."

"I know Milady… but I'll do everything I possibly can."

"Of course. Did Erza say anything else when she wrote?"

"Ah actually she did… she mentioned you and the king of the Eastern Mountains were once friends." Levy said "I won't ask you to explain why you didn't tell us though… It's not my place."

"It's ok Levy… King Zeref and I… We were once betrothed."

"Y-You were engaged to the king of the Eastern Mountain?"

"I was… But… his father before him called it in favour of another fairy. That arrangement also fell through when his father died. Zeref himself called it off but by then I was already with child with Erza. We stayed friends for a while, his son and Erza were close friends. However… He suggested something I could never agree to so our friendship dissolved."

"I see… I'm sorry Lady Mavis." Levy bowed her head.

"Don't be silly… I never needed a man beside me anyway." Mavis giggled "Erza's father was a good man until his death, I may not have loved him but he was a good man and that's all a queen can ask for." She smiled softly "Levy… allow me to impart some advice while we are alone…"

Levy unconsciously looked behind her for Gajeel, forgetting he had waited outside so the two could be alone, even Minerva and Mirajane were waiting outside. "Of course."

"When you find someone you love… don't let them go for anything. Don't let pride hold you apart. If you don't hold onto them with everything you have you'll come to regret it."

"I… I will remember that." Levy nodded.

"Good… Now you should go and get some rest while you can." Mavis waved towards he doors. "Goodnight Levy."

"Good night Titaina." Levy bowed before backing from the room.

Mavis rest her chin in her hand and watched the heavy doors close behind her tactition. Her eyes slipped closed and the face of her lost love came to mind for the first time in many years, and his name came as a whisper to her lips. "I miss you Zeref…"

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 **And there you have it. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and now I have a question for you all~**

 **For the next chapter should I;**

 **A- Chapter about Grey and his Nix and what the're up to**

 **B-More about Erza and Jellal in the Eastern Mountains**

 **C- A backstory chapter about Zeref and Mavis**

 **Place your votes in the comments! (I will hopefully write a chapter on all of these but I don't know which to do first so opinions please :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey! Heres just a little short chapter on Grey's adventures.**

 **Enjoy**

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"Cana move!" Grey shot forward barrelling into the Deev that had been about to plunge a rusty looking sword into his childhood friends back. He and the Deev tumbled through the air for a while before Grey finally managed to dispatch him with a swift uppercut. Not that there wasn't three more of the vile little critters to take his place. All around him was the sound of fighting, clashing swords and grunts of pain. They had not been prepared for this. His patrol squad was five fairies big and although they were powerful and skilled members of the royal army they could do little against a force of thirty. They were holding their own pretty well, though Grey knew two of his charges were already dead, a third injured and struggling to continue to fight. Grey took out two more approaching Deevs before turning to check on the rest of his team. Only Cana was left, but one of her wings had been torn and she was flitting about at odd angles, she wasn't nearly as fast as she usually was. Grey was about to move to her side to help her when another Deev blocked his way. He growled and threw himself at the new enemy.

"Follow me you horrible lot!" Grey's eyes snapped to Cana as he ran the Deev in his with his sword, just in time to see Cana shoot into the trees with the final few Deevs on her tail.

"Cana no!" Grey shot forward to follow her.

A pain ripped through his back and suddenly he was falling. He'd let his guard down. There had been one behind him. He watched in horror as that last Deev also headed into the trees where Cana had led the others. The last thing he remembered was hitting the ground hard before everything went black.

When he woke up it couldn't have been more than half a day since the fight. He was disorientated and confused. He was laying on his front in some kind of bed, from what he could see the shelter he was in was made of reeds and grass fronds, nothing like the homes carved into tree trunks he was used to. As his dulled senses started to come back to him he heard a soft singing voice, female and light, it reminded Grey of twinkling bells in the pure snow of winter. He tried to move but pain shot through his body and he collapsed back down onto the bed.

A soft gasp cut off the singing and Grey heard light footsteps approaching her. "Y-You're awake?"

"Yeah." He grunted "Where am I…"

"You are in Juvia's home… Juvia found you after the Deevs left." Grey managed to turn his head to the side to see a blue skinned fairy sit down on a stool beside the bed.

"You're a Nix…" He commented, he had heard about this rare species of fairy, blue skinned and purely beautiful.

"Juvia is a Nix yes." She nodded. "You are a Tenrou Tailed Fairy."

"Yeah… Names Grey."

"Nice to meet you Grey-sama." The Nix smiled and Grey had to glance away to stop the blood from rushing to his cheeks, she really was a beautiful as the legends say.

"Did you find anyone else?" Grey asked after a few moments of silence.

"None… alive." Juvia sighed "I am sorry Grey-sama."

"No…Don't worry, have you got writing tools… I need to send a message to the Queen."

"Of course Grey-sama." Juvia stood and Grey could only listen to her moving about until he came back. "Juvia can write it for you if you like."

"Thanks…" Grey nodded "Lady Mavis. I regret to inform you that Deevs have invaded your kingdom. My squad fought admirably but have each fallen. I myself have been rescued by a Nix…"

Juvia looked up when Grey trailed off "Would you like Juvia to take you back to the Tenrou Tree when you are well? Juvia knows a way."

Grey nodded "Thanks…. I will return as soon as I am able with the Nix as my guide, do not send a search party." Grey finished. "Juiva… have you seen anything while I've been out… any more Deevs?"

"Yes… a few swams passed by and went into the forest." Juvia nodded "Sorry, Juvia should have said sooner,"

"No its fine. The Nix has also told me that other squads of Deevs have entered our territory… We are at war. Captain Grey."

Juvia wrote the last line and Grey's name before adding a note that it was written by 'The Nix' before folding it and putting it in an envelope. "Juvia will have this sent at once!"

"Take my ring…" Grey lifted one hand with a slight wince. "It will allow your messenger to get into the Tenrou Tree."

Juvia nodded and took the ring from Grey's finger. "Juvia will return soon… please get some rest Grey-sama."

Grey didn't wake again for another few days. Juvia was diligent in regularly cleaning and changing the bandages on Grey's wound but she worried for him. When he did finally wake up Juvia was sat on the stool next to his bed knitting. "Juvia…" He grumbled her name peeking open his eyes.

"Grey-sama!" Her eyes flashed to his face "Thank goodness you're awake."

"I was out for a while…?"

"Four days." She nodded.

"Shit…."

"Ah! Juvia will get you some water." Juiva put her kitting on the stool and hurried away. While she was away from the bed Grey pushed himself up on his arms and with some wincing managed to get himself sat up, facing forwards. He spotted Juvia through a window collecting water as he looked around the one room reed hut. It was indeed all made of woven reeds and all the furniture was made of driftwood and woven reeds. It was cosy and warm sunlight filtered through the gaps in the weaving of the roof. "Grey-sama are you sure you should be sitting up?"

Grey looked towards Juvia as she approached with a cup of water. He took the cup and sipped, the cool water was like heaven for his dried throat. "I'm fine… Whatever you did is working miracles… it barely hurts."

"Juvia just used her mother's old Nix herb slave. It's made from the herbs from the river."

"I see… Thank you." He drank some more water. "You have me in your debt Juvia… But I will ask that you hold off on cashing in that debt until after the war."

"Juvia does not need Grey-sama's gratitude…"

"But you have it anyway. I appreciate your hospitality, but I need to leave soon."

"You're not strong enough yet!" Juvia squeaked

"Maybe not but I have to return to defend my city." Grey sighed "I'll need to start my journey within the next few days."

"Then Juvia will come with you." Juvia crossed her arms over her chest stubbornly.

"You do not need to do that, you've done enough for me already."

"Juvia wants to. Besides Juvia knows the shortcut back to your city."

Grey sighed "Fine… Then… I request we leave tomorrow."

Juvia nodded "Juvia will be ready. Grey should rest some more."

He gave the blue skinned girl a small smile "Ok I will… Thank you Juvia."

"You're welcome Grey-sama."

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 **Hope you liked this little extra chapter. I'll be delving back into the main storyline now but leave comments on feedback and suggestions for future scenarios if you like (Or just to tell me you like the story because thats always a good way to motivate a writer)**

 **(Non-betaed as always so sorry for bad spelling and grammar)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Ok here we go! I've upped the rating because of this chapter containing a little bit of the gore (Blood and stuff so this is your warning) The action is heating up in our story now!**

 **Enjoy**

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Levy woke up with a start. Looking back and forth she took in her surroundings, she had been sleeping on her desk, surrounded by a tower of books, she must have passed out there last night. As she straightened up properly she felt something slip from her shoulders, a blanket. Gajeel must have placed it there. She smiled softly and brought the blanket around to her front and hugged it. She looked behind her expecting to find Gajeel there as always but he was nowhere to be seen. "Gajeel?" She called out, he hadn't once left her sight since he had taken the role as her bodyguard so his lack of presence put the short tactician on edge.

She walked over to and pulled open the door to her office and stepped out, looking left and right for any sign of the dark dragonfly. There were two guards either side of her office door, stern faced and armed to the teeth, but they weren't Gajeel. "Do you two know where Gajeel is?"

"Dragonfly Gajeel was summoned by the king, we're here to guard you until he returns."

"Oh." Levy nodded, she was fine, these two were perfectly adequate soldiers, but a small part of her was nervous without Gajeel there. "In that case I'll-" Levy was cut off when a knife went whizzing past her ear and embedded itself deep in the throat of the guard who had just spoken to her. He released a chocked gasp, as blood gargled in this throat, the second guard was already spinning to face the direction of the attack his weapon drawn and raised. Levy fell to her knees beside the fallen man and pressed her hands to his neck to try and hold but the blood, but it flowed thick and red past her fingers.

A cry of pain told Levy the second guard was hurt and she was able to throw herself to the side just before a knife stuck into the ground where she had been knelt seconds before. A glance told her the second guard was still standing but struggling against what seemed to be three Deevs. They were fast, almost a blur as they weaved between each other in their attack. Levy knew the guard wouldn't last long. She didn't argue when the guard grunted at "Run."

Levy scrambled to her feet and threw herself down the corridor on shaky wings, she knew they would be following her soon but if she could just get to another guarded area those guards could dispatch the Deevs, who wouldn't be nearly as effective without their element of surprise. It wasn't long at all before Levy could hear them behind her, cackling and bouncing off the walls as they made chase. Levy had no choice. As she passed by an old display of weaponry she elbowed the glass so it shattered, cutting at her pale skin and drawing blood. She didn't notice that pain with so much adrenaline in her system as she wretched free a sword and swung it around. She managed to catch one Deev with the swing, it hadn't stopped in time and he sword sliced right through its left arm sending it screaming away. There were still two more and Levy was no fighter, she could hardly hold up the old heavy sword. She levelled it at the two grinning Deevs who were flitting back and forth in front of her, playing with her before they moved in for the kill.

"Duck." Levy didn't need to be told twice as she dropped to her knees. A shadow passed over her and she heard pained screams over the crunching of bone. Levy looked up just in time to see a Deev's head fall from a large hand.

"G-Gajeel…?" She squeaked, the adrenaline was quickly leaving her, leaving her body shaking and tears in her eyes.

Gajeel turned and knelt down in front of her, blocking her view from the mess. "Shrimp… Oi look at me." He chided lifting her chin. "It's ok, you're safe now."

"Y-You were gone," She took a deep breath. "They knew you were gone."

"I know… I'm sorry shrimp."

"It's ok… You were with the – Oh gods… The queen." Levy shot to her feet as quickly as she had fallen from them. "If they came for me there's probably more heading for the queen if they're not already there!"

"I didn't see anything when I was heading back…" Gajeel frowned.

"No... They hide themselves." Levy shook her head "We need to go!"

"Well then…" Mirajane stared at the small blade that she had just caught between two fingers not and inch from her temple. Minerva was already directly in front of the queen. "My Lady I'll have to ask for you to make your way to the safe room as soon as you are able."

With growls of irritation but deadly grins on their faces several Deevs slinked out of the shadows all around the room. "Well… I count seventeen." Minerva smirked drawing two blades from her belt.

"Really? I counted nineteen." Mirajane chuckled as she shot out her hand and two short blades flew out and killed two Deevs that were still hidden in shadow, they tumbled from the wall with cries of pain.

"Well spotted… It's been a while since we had such a challenge."

"What challenge… this will be easy."

Minerva nodded and spread her wings before shooting out and slicing the nearest two Deevs clean in half. The battle that ensued was filled with screams, laughter and blood, Mirajane and Minerva didn't earn a single injury but their enemy was slightly better than they had given them credit for. One slipped past their guard and by the time Mirajane had finished off her half of the Deevs and turned to the queen (who was behind her throne, moving for the safe room hidden behind the tapestry at the back of the room) A Deev was already mid-leap towards her, sword level with her chest.

"Noo!" Mirajane cried trying to get there.

"Get away!" Mavis screamed and tried to block the blow by rasing her arms.

"I think not!" Eyes all around the room widened as a thick broadsword thrust right through the body to the Deev. The Deev made a confused gargling noise before the sword was swung and it's body went fly across the room to hit the wall. "Is everyone ok?"

"Captian Grey!?"

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 **Kinda a cliff hanger? I dunno. Sorry it's kinda short I've been busy latly and motivation is hard to come by.**

 **Review and fave as always please and I'll try to update soon.**


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